Finding Philosophy in Science Workshop

Arizona State University 

Life Sciences C-wing, Room 202

March 27-28, 2020

Conference Schedule (coming soon)

Vision and Aim

The question of what role philosophy has within science, if any, has grown in prominence. (Laplane et al, 2019 ; PhillinBioMed group) This workshop assumes that including philosophy within science is beneficial for both science and philosophy. Scientists have many commitments about aims and methods, about which inferences are good ones, and about what should be taken as evidence. Such topics are a central focus for philosophers. In particular, this workshop  investigates strategies for finding philosophy in science and for exploring the roles for questions that philosophers address have within the larger enterprise of science. Full flier. 

Scope and Speakers

The first part of the workshop recognizes a vigorous and varied tradition of locating philosophy within science. The presentations in this part discuss new research about mid-20th century views, collectively providing a useful point of departure for the broader topic of finding philosophy in science.

Chair: TBD

Speakers: 

Thomas Uebel, University of Manchester

Alan Richardson, University of British Columbia

Sander Verhaegh, Tilburg University

The second part of the workshop explores Hasok Chang’s more recent proposal that history and philosophy of science might be thought of as complementary science. A panel with Chang will analyze his proposal and invite meaningful comparisons to those canvassed in the first part of the workshop.

Chair: TBD

Speakers:

Hasok Chang, Cambridge University

Lucie Laplane, University of Paris - Sorbonne

Kate MacCord, Marine Biological Laboratory

Manfred Laubichler, Arizona State University

The third part of the workshop surveys various disciplinary approaches aimed at determining what role traditionally philosophic questions and commitments actually have in the ongoing work of scientific communities.

Chair: TBD

Speakers:       

Jane Maienschein, Arizona State University

Steve Elliott, Arizona State University

James Collins, Arizona State University

Outcomes

This workshop will lead to the development of scholarly articles for publication. It will also help ASU prepare for the third annual meeting of the PhilInBioMed International Network, which will be held at ASU in the Fall of 2020. 

Support

This workshop is organized by Richard Creath and co-organized by Steve Elliott. It is funded in large part by a grant from the James S. McDonnell Foundation.

Logistics